Bob Lutz’s Prediction On The Future Of Transportation Shows Apple And Google As Top Dogs

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To some Lutz’s idea may sound like an innovative sci-fi theory. To others, however, it may sound like the days of darkness when the thrills and joys of driving are stripped from our everyday lives. Either way you look at it, Lutz’s prediction is probably not too far off from what actually may happen.

This Automotive News article contains multiple quotes from Lutz during the discussion, we’ll share a few with you along with our thoughts.

“The end state is going to be the fully autonomous, fully electric module with no capability for the driver to steer it or exercise any sort of command. You will call it up, it will arrive at the domicile, you’ll get in, input the destination and go to the freeway.”

Sounds proper. In fact, it sounds like we’re already halfway there in terms of having our cars come to us from their spots in the parking lot.

“On the freeway, it will merge seamlessly into a stream of other standardized modules that are traveling at 120, 150 miles an hour. It doesn’t matter. You have a blending of rail-type transportation with individual transportation… Then, as you approach your exit, your module with split off and go into deceleration lanes, take the exit, [and] go to your final destination. You will be billed for the transportation. You key in your credit card number or your thumbprint or whatever it will be then. The module takes off and goes to its collection point, ready for the next person to call it up.”

Again, the idea doesn’t sound farfetched at all. Though this next part of the prediction does remind us a bit of the Jetsons;

“On the freeway, [the vehicle will] be on inductive rails, not using its own battery. Of course, the batteries will be much more capable.”

Who knows, maybe Lutz has just given us some accurate insight on what’s in store for the future of transportation. While we feel that Lutz’s prediction isn’t way off, we do think it’ll be quite sometime before traveling gets to that stage, or so we hope. It’s not that we have anything against progression, we just rather go to work in a 2016 Cadillac CTS-V than a soda-can with auto-pilot, even if it does go 120 miles an hour.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this, so be sure to leave them in the comment section below.

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4 Comments

There’s one IMMENSE and INTENSE benefit of this concept seldom said: we won’t have to build bigger and bigger highways anymore. That would be over.

The reason wouldn’t simply be because said pods take up less room and work together more efficiently. It would be because if all vehicles were controlled by computers, traffic lights would dinosaur. You wouldn’t need to wait at a light. And once that went away, local streets could handle rush hours. Certain roads in cities would ‘double’ as temporary highways.

So say someone is in a pod heading locally to work. They’d watch ahead at the cross-street as a chain of pods go by at 45 miles an hour. But their pod wouldn’t slow down… because the computer knows that the chain of pods will be gone by the time you reach the intersection. In this way in almost any city all traffic lanes would always be moving.

Sorry but you will have the pry the steering wheel from my cold dead hands. Not sure will they offer retrofit packages for my 1931 Ford or 1969 Chevelle? I highly doubt it…. I for one still like to drive…. maybe they will dedicate a lane for the people who still want to drive? I see the benefits of autonomous cars… On my daily commute I see people playing on their phones and what not… its sad that people don’t respect driving as a privilege and pay attention and enjoy the drive… On the other hand these are the same people that drive their appliance Camry or Accord and could care less about the enjoyment of driving. I for one still enjoy rowing through the gears enjoying the music of a LS small block….. who’s with me?